Printing press



' Oct. 27, 1931. s, HOWARD 1,829,004

.PRINTINGPRESS Filed Feb. 20, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l :2 a INVENTOR BY 6M7 {M4 5% CAMM ATTORNEY Oct. 27, 1931-. s. R.--HOWARD 0 v PRINTING PRESS Filed Feb. 20, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNV ENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 27, 1931. s. R. HOWARD 1,329,004

PRINTING PRESS Filed Feb. 20, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 OR 4 BY yfui R 1.6% (mad-L4 ATTORNEY Oct. 27, 1931. s. R. HOWARD PRINTING PRESS Filed-Feb. 20, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR BY y fd. M (LAM ATTORNEY S. R. HOWARD Oct. 27, 1931.

PRINTING PRESS- Filed Feb. 20, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IIIIIII/IIII 1 VIIIIIIIIII lNVENTOR BY 5% 7M4 5M MM ATTO RN EY Patented Oct. 27, 1931 .VUNITVED STATES s rAnIJEy n. HOWARD, OF-EAST MILTON, MAssAoHusE'r'rs, assrenoa rornnunaric SCALE CORPORATION, LIMITED, or QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or massaonusmrs PATENT-brace ,1

PRINTING PRESS. f

Application filed February 20, 1930. Serial N 430,012.

Thisinvention relates to aprinting press. v In general the object of the invention is toprovide a novel and improved printing press which is capable of performing the printing operation more efiiciently and more uniformly upon certain characters of work than other presses ofwhich I am aware.

'{Afurther object of the invention is to providea novel and improved press for printing upon the uppermost sheet of a pile and particularly upon the uppermost leaf or page of the body portion of a book, and in which provision is made for enabling difi'erent parts/of the surface being printed upon to be impressed with substantially uniform pressure duringthe printing operation irrespective of inequalities in the distribution of the printing over the surface of the page.

" A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel printing press, which is particularly designed for printing upon the u'ppermost sheet of a pile, such as upon the uppermost leaf or page ofthe body of a book,-and in which provision is made for 'compensating for the cumulative effect of variations in the thickness of the individual sheets making up the pile and also for compensating for inequalities in the distribution of the printingiover the surface, to the end that printing impressions of substantially uniform intensity may be produced on the different parts of the surface of the Work.

These andother features of the invention will be hereinafter described and particularly'defined in the claims at the end-of this specification. In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is'a longitudinal vertical section through the improved printing press; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional detail illustrating the inking mechanism;Fig. 3 is a plan of the improved machine with portions in section; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal'section illustrating the mechanismfor actuating the carriage containing the printing element; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on 'the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a detail in sideelevation of the Work supporting platen and associated operating 'mechanism';',Fig. 7 is a plan with a portion broken away of the'improved. work sup-j port-ingwplaten and adjusting :mechanism therefor; F ig, 8 is a' cross-sectional view on the line 8-8 Of'Fig/T F ig..9 is a detail illustrative of the frictional members'for the platen; Fig. lOis anelevation ofthe righthand'side of the platen shown in. Fig. 7;

Fig. 11 is a detail illustrating one of the limiting pins to be referred to Figs. 12 and 13 are details inelevation and section respectively'of the platen, its supporting knife edge and the 'mechanism for varying the position thereof; and Figs. 14 and 15 are views of a check book upontheisupporting platenillustrating different distributions of the matter to be. printed upon the check book. 5 I

Inprinting upon certain characters of ma terial particularly upon the uppermost sheet 111 a pile,it is-quite necessary that the work be supported in a non-rigid manner and dif-' ficulty has heretofore beenexperienced under such conditions in obtaininguniformityin the; intensity of printing. impressions produced indifferent parts of the surface of the work. For example, in certain types of printing it becomes necessary to 'printtconsiderably morematerialon one part of the Work thanupon another part, and as'a result of this inequality in the location or distribution ofvthe printing over the surface Of the Workit has been found that inequalities result in the character and intensity or depth of the printingperformed upon thedifierent portions of thesurface of the work. In the present press, provision is madefor insuring that the printing pressurebeuniform irrespective of suchinequalities in the distribu tion of the printing over the. surface of the work. In printing upon theuppermost sheet of a pile,'b'ecause of the cumulative ef-V feet of slight variations in the thicknessof the individual sheets makingup the pile, provision'is made in the present press for-per mitting thework supporting' memberto tilt so'as toadapt itself to such variations in the thickness of the pile of sheets;

As an "example of one character of printing forwhich the present machine is particularly designed,*I-may refer to thprinting er- 100 formed upon the successive pages of a bound check book in order to print the customers name upon the face of each check and in order to print in the serial number of the check upon the check and also upon its stub. It so happens that the location of the customers name varies considerably in different checks, and it has been found that superior and more uniform printing may be produced in the present machine in which provision is made for counteracting the variations in the location of the printing over the surface of the check book in order to insure substantially uniform printing pressure at each part being printed upon. The illustrated printing press is therefore particularly designed and adapted for use in printing upon the redetermined portions of the pages of a ound book in accordance with the method forming the subject matter of a copendin application Serial No. 354,295, filed by Charles E. Gale, and the present machine is an improvement upon the machine forming the subject matter of the copending application Serial No. 425,796 filed by Charles E. Gale, to both of which reference is made by permission. In accordance with such method and in such machine the printing operation is performed upon the uppermost page comprising the body portion of thebook, and then such page after. having been printed upon is turned to expose the next underlying page in a position ready to be printed upon. During the printing operation the pages making up the body of the book'are preferably maintained in predetermined and registered position with relation to the printing element.

The illustratedmachine with the exception of the supporting platen and. the mechanism by which it is supportedin a manner such as to insure the production of uniform printing pressureand consequently of uniform printing at the different portions of the surface of the work irrespective of the inequalities in the distribution of the printing over the surface, may and preferably will comprise the machine illustrated in and forming the subject matter of the above referred to applica-v tion of Charles E. Gale for such machine Serial No. 425,796, filed February 4, 1930.

In the illustrated machine the work herein shown as a check book is operatively supported during the printing operation uponwa platen 10, and the printing operation is performed by raising the platen 10 to press the uppermost page of the book against a print in element 20. iteferring now to Figs. 14 and 15, it will be observed that in the checkbook illustrated therein the customers name, represented'at 15, :and the serial numbers upon the check and the stub respectively, represented at 17 and 19, are so spaced that the center of pressure produced during the printing operation does not. coincide with the longitudinal center line of the book, and as a result, when the yieldingly supported platen 10 is raised in performing the printing operation, inequalities in the intensity of the printing impression upon opposite sides of the center line have resulted.

In order that the printing pressure may be made uniform irrespective of inequalities in the distribution of the printing, provision is made for supporting the platen 10 along a longitudinal axis and for adjustably move in such supporting axis to cause it to coincide with the center of pressure of the particular work being printed. For example, when the check book illustrated in Fig. 14 is to be printed, the platen 10 may and preferably will be supported upon a supporting member preferably a knife edge positioned underneath the line 1616 representing the center of pressure produced during the printing operation. In the check book illustrated in Fig. 15, the platen may be supported upon the supporting member or knife edge located underneath the line 18-18 representing the center of pressure for that particular check book.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10, as herein shown the platen 10 is pivotally mounted upon a knife edge or l"0t member 21 mounted upon and carried by a block 23, and provision is made for 0peratively supporting the block 23 in a manner such as to permit it to be readily moved transversely of the platen 10. For this purpose the block is provided with a threaded hole through which a screw 26 extends, and the latter is operatively supported in suitable bearings in a supporting piece 27 slidably mounted in a cross piece 29 forming a part of the framework of the machine, and the sup porting piece 27 comprises a part of the plunger upon which the platen is mounted to be lifted to perform the printing operation in the manner previously known, and as set forth in the Gale application above re ferred to. One end of the threaded rod 26 is connected by beveled gears 31, 33 to a vertical shaft 35 journalled in bearings in a bracket 36 secured to the side of the supporting piece 27, and the threaded rod 26 is arranged to be turned to effect the lateral adjustment of the knife edge, by the operator turning a nut 37 on the upper end of the shaft 35.

In the illustrated machine, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the platen 10 is also pivoted upon a second knife edge 41 connected with the first knife edge 21 to be moved laterally therewith as the threaded rod 26 is turned as above described, and the second knife edge 41 is connected by an arm 43 directly to an arm 44 projecting from the block 23, the two arms-43, 44 being secured together by the screws 45. as shown. The arm 43 carrying the. second knife edge is supported upon an ing a nut54 on the upper end of the shaft by which'the shaft may be'turned.

From thedescription thus far it will apparent that the platen being pivoted upon the knife edges21, 41 is permittedto rock laterally and that the knife edges being connected together by thearms 43, 44 enable the platen to be tilted in a. longitudinal direction or about'a transverse axis'as the eccentric 47 is raised or lowered. In order to stabilize the position of the platen, a limiting pin is provided upstandingfrom the supporting piece 27 and the top of the pin is loosely received within a slot or a hole 56 in the lower sideof the platen 10. Friction members 58 are yieldingly held by springs 59 against a bracket 60 depending from the underside of the platen to control the vertical movements of the platen. i

i As previously described, the printing press in which thepresent platen and its supporting mechanism by which the superior printing may be accomplished, are preferably embodied in the rinting press forming the subject matter of the application of Charles Gale above referred to, and a suflicient portion of such machine has'been herein illustrated to enable the present invention to be understood. Reference is made, however, by permission to the above mentioned Gale application Serial N 0. 425,7 96, for a complete description of the entire machine, but for the purposes of understanding the present invention, it may be said 'that the printing element 20 may comprise a chase 22 in which the type may be set in anyusual or preferred manner, and the chase 22 is removabl secured in a framework or carriage 25 sli ably mounted by tongue and groove connections in the side frames of the main frame of the machine to thereby permit the chase to be slid into printing position over thesupporting platen 10 at definite intervals in each cycle of the operation of the machine- Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the mechanism for actuating the carriage 25 to slide it into and from operative printing position includesa crank free to turn on the stud 72 and a sprocket 74 attached to the hub of the crank 70. The sprocket 74 is driven by means of a chain 75 from a sprocket 76 on the main shaft 79. The crank 70 is provided with a roll 80 operating in a slot 81 and a lever 82 pivoted upon the pin 83 secured in the main frame of the machine. The main drive shaft 79 is arranged to be driven from a motor 84 ingthe bar '8 clutch-87 and shaft 88 upon which the'clutch'pulley 86 is mounted. The

shaft 88 is geared to the shaft 79through a geartrainl including the piniorr 90, gear 91, pinion 92and gear 93. Provision is made for operating: the clutch :87 from. an operating: handle 92 through the clutch rod 91. I

The booksupporting platen, having aprovision as above described for the adjustment of its supporting knife edges laterally with respect to the platen, and also the adj ustment of the platen through thee'ccentric 47 inordcr to tilt the platen for the purpose above described,fis mounted upon the upper end of a' main'supporting' plunger=68 through the supporting piece '27 guided'in its movement in a bearing in the cross member 29 as described." The main'supporting plunger 108 is arranged 'to be lifted to raise the platen by an actuating cam 112 on themain shaft of the machine which is driven in'timed relation to the mechanism for "moving the carriage 25 into and from operative printing position. As herein shown, the-movements of the cam-112 are transmitted to a cam'roller 113 mounted upon'the end of one arm 114 of a-bell crank 115, the second arm 116 of which is connected by a link 117 to an actuating lever 118 pivoted upon a countershaft119 hav ing bearings'in brackets bolted to the machine frame. When thecam depresses the cam' roller "113, the actuating lever 118 -is thrown to the left, and provision is made un der the control of the operator for'connectingthe actuating lever 118 with a toggle 122 to throw the toggle into a straightened posi tionand thereby raise the plunger 68 to lift the platen as above-described to'perform the printing operation. The upper'member of the toggle 122 is pivotally connected to a slide I 123 connected'to the platen 10'. The movements of the slide as the toggle is straightened or broken are transmitted to the platen supporting plunger 68 which is slidably mounted Within and. with relation to the slide through the medium of a heavy coiled spring 130 interposed between a col1a'r'132 fixed tothe'plunger and a 'second collar 134' secured upon a sleeve 136 bolted to'the upper of two cam members 137, 138 forming a part of 'acompensating mechanism for compensating for the gradual diminution in the thickness of the'body of the book as successive printed pages are turned. "Inasmuch as such compensating mechanism of itself formsfno part of the present invention further description of it is. omitted and reference is made to. the above-mentioned Gale application for the details thereof.

" From the description of the illustrated machine it will be apparentthat inaccorda'nce with the present invention provision has been made for effecting anniformity'in'the printingimpression in those instances where the distribution of the printing is not uniform and where" heretofore darker and heavier impressions have been obtained in some parts of theworkn- I: i p I YVhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described,,it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within thescope'of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention what isclaimed is 1. A printing press having, in combination, a printing element, a work supporting platen, actuating mechanism for relatively moving the printingelement and the supporting. platen to perform theprinting operation, and means for supporting the platen having provision whereby the platen may be suported on a longitudinal axis, and means for effecting adjustment of said supporting axis transversely of the platen to permit the support to coincide-with the center of pressure produced during the printing operation-mu w 2."A printing, press having, in combination, vaprinting element, a work supporting platen, means for effecting relative movement of the printing element and work supporting platento perform the printing operation, supporting means for permitting tiltingof the work supporting platen about an axis, and means for adjustably positioning the supporting means for the purpose speci- 3. A printing press having, in combination, a printing element, a Work supporting member,v a movable member provided with a knife'edge upon which the work supporting member is. mounted, and means for adjustably positioning the knife edge with relation to Jthe distribution of the printing over the surface of the work to insure substantially uniform intensity of impression irrespective of inequalities in the distribution of the printingover the surface ofthe Work.

4. A printing presshaving, in combination, a printing-member, a work supporting member, means for efiecting relative movemember in one direction, and a movable pivot support about "which the work vsupporting memberv may tilt in another direction. I 7. A printing press having, in combination, a printing member, a work supporting member, means forreifecting relative movementofthe work supporting member and printing member to perform the printing operation, and means for supporting a work supporting member including a knife edge upon and about which the work supporting member is mounted-to be capable of tilting, and means forpivotallv supporting the knife edge and work supporting member to permit bothto tilt about an axis extending transversely of the knife edge. 7

8. A printing press having, in combination, a printing member, a work supporting member, means for effecting relative movement of said members to perform the printing operation, and means for supporting the Worksupporting member including a plunger provided with a bracket upon its upper end, a knife edge pivoted to the bracket, an eccentric mounted upon the bracket and cooperating with the knife edge to effectpivotal move- Inent thereof, said knife edge being arranged to support the Workv supporting member to permit tilting thereof transversely of the knife edge, and means for effecting movement of the knife edge in a transverse direction with relation to the bracket and work sup porting member. g V

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thisspecification.

STANLEY in. HOWARD.

ment of said members tov perform the printing operation, means for pivotally support ingone of the members, and means for adjustably moving the pivot support with relation tothe distribution of the printing over the, surface of the work so as to insure substantiallv uniform intensity in the printing impression in the difierent parts of the work.

printing press having, in combination, a printingmembena work supporting member, means for effecting relative movement of said members to perform the printing operation,- a yieldable mountingforione of the membersto compensate for variations in the thickness of the work, and means for adjustably supporting one of the members in a manner such as to insure equalized intensity in the printing impression irrespective of jin- 

